Gigabyte intros its first fanless Intel Core CPU powered BRIX

Not long after introducing a pairof tiny fanless Apollo Lake powered BRIX computers Gigabyte has followed up with a similarly designed but slightly larger Intel Core i3 processor packing machine. The Gigabyte BRIX GB-EKi3A-7100 offers a significant step up in performance, with its Core i3-7100U Kaby Lake processor (15W), while maintaining the fan-free design.

Gigabyte's BRIX GB-EKi3A-7100 is classed as one of its IoT targeted machines. Of course, as a PC it can be deployed however you might see fit. With the nippy 2C/4T CPU, Intel HD Graphics 620, up to 32GB of RAM, M.2 PCIe storage, USB 3.1 ports, and Windows 10 support there's not much holding you back from doing many things your desktop does - other than GPU limited activities.

The BRIX GB-EKi3A-7100 can be VESA mounted to the back of a TV, for example, and it can handle 4K HD entertainment with HDMI 2.0 and support for HDCP 2.2. Furthermore, it can power three independent displays via its HDMI 2.0 and a DisplayPort ++. All together it sounds like an adept, silent running, media machine.

From the pictures you can see how this Kaby Lake i3 BRIX dissipates any waste heat generated. It has vents front and back for passive airflow but most of any heat generated likely rises from the heavily finned top plate of the compact chassis.

I don't have pricing and availability details here. However, a barebone BRIX with a very similar codename, and basically the same internals (but in an active fan cooler equipped larger 'NUC-like' chassis) retails at £299 in the UK.